January 10, 2024

Lift and 285 tires on my Gen5 4runner?

I've now had the 4runner for 4 months and have 7000 miles on it. I have RCI skid plates and bump them a lot! I am used to the clearance with my 2000 Tacoma, and I tap objects all the time that the Tacoma would clear. Part of this is due to the RCI skid plates taking up some clearance, and part is due to the 4runner just not having as much clearance.

A big concern for me with lift is whether the vehicle will fit into my garage with the Gobi rack on top of it. (I have the Gobi rack). I just carefully measured and my tightest clearance is 6.25 inches when my rear wheel bumps up into my garage. There is a rubber gasket around my garage door, so I really have 7 inches before I hit anything hard. So, I am certainly willing to lift the vehicle 3 inches and could accomodate more.

Going from 265 to 285 tires adds 1.6 inches in diameter (lifts 0.8 inches). Think of it as going from 31 to 33 inch tires (and lifting 1 inch). then think about a 2 inch lift kit.

The "will it rub" video has an Icon stage 1 lift installed. He has rubbing problems, but with mud-terrain tires. This might not be an issue with all-terrain tires.

The Icon kit is $2200. Having a shop put it on will probably run $3000 all told. They also talk about changing wheels to get "backspace". I have no idea if this would be needed and I do not want to buy new wheels. The story is that a bigger tire may hit the sway bar without the extra backspace.

Watch this video which is excellent and talks about IFS details with relation to big tires (285 = 33 inch).

Trail Boss

I have been talking to this shop (1-11-2024). They are recommending Bilstein 6112 front shocks, 5100 rear shocks. Putting a 1 inch lift spring in the rear and a 1-3 inch adjustable lift for the front.

It turns out the 6112 is the front only and as a kit you get a new spring to go with it. The 5100 is for the back. As an option you can get the 5160 for the back which has a second "piggyback" cylinder. The quote from Trail Boss includes a rear spring to do the 1 inch lift. There is no 6112 rear shock.

You can select the front lift height. See this article:

You get 6 choices for the front lift. (0 to 2.5). Go with 1.6 if you are not lifting the rear, this will yield a level vehicle. Go with maybe 2.5 if you are lifting the rear 1.0 as I will be.

Robb at trail boss says that 3 inches of lift is the point at which you need to purchase new UCA (upper control arms). With 2.5 of lift in the front, I will not need new UCA. Remember that these are not doing much unless you are in 4x4, so fretting over the steeper angles is probably not worthwhile. Maybe I should opt for 2.0 inches of lift in the front rather than the full 2.5 to take it easy on those CV axle joints?

After a lift you need alignment. I read about setting camber far to the front to accomodate 285 tires.

Those tires

Prices for BFG KO2 tires are $270 for 265 and $308 for 285 at Discount. They quoted me $1500 for four tires in 8/2023 (including certs). This is $375 per wheel. There is no advantage buying 5 tires cost wise. I will just keep a 265 tire for a spare and someday when I buy a second set of 285 tires move the best onto the spare and save money.

Fitting 285 tires

There are plenty of videos that show fender cutting and mud flap fiddling to fit 285 tires. The following were good and gave me courage: The big secret. The entire front bumper is PLASTIC! So you just need to trim the edge of the plastic bumper and then pull the front fender liner forward.

Rim width and offset can make all the difference. I have a current version of TRD Pro wheels. If they are 7 inch wide, I may have no problems. They may be +15 offset (+ is in?).

I bought the tires 1-13-2024 and did the trim 1-22-2024. I did a tapered trim that went to 1/2 inch max at the bottom of the bumper using a dremel cutoff disk. Pretty easy, but have at least two disks on hand when you do it. Then I did the hole drilling to move the liner.

The holes are a bit tricky. Ignore all the descriptions and just figure it out for yourself. The left and right sides are different. I recommend drilling for the frontmost hole on each side first, then figuring out where the hole for the clip should go. I chopped on of my clips in half as it was not going to work any other way. The clip forces you to place the hole a specific distance from the edge of the fender liner and that just wasn't going to work! I used the back end piece (that the screw threads into) after I had cut it free. It is easy to reach behind the liner and install it. Or you could replace the whole thing with a bolt and nylock nut. The front half of the clip makes a nice "washer" if you do such a thing.

Have any comments? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Auto repair pages / tom@mmto.org